Social Explorer; U.S. Census Bureau; Census of Population and Housing, 1980: Summary Tape File 3 [machine-readable data file] / conducted By the U.S. Bureau of the Census. Washington: Bureau of the Census [producer and distributor], 1982.

All persons wore asked to identify themselves according to the following race categories on the 1980 questionnaire: White, Black or Negro, American Indian, Eskimo, Aleut, Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Asian Indian, Vietnamese, Hawaiian, Guamanian, Samoan, and Other. The "Other" category includes Malayan, Polynesian, Thai, and other groups not included in the specific categories listed on the questionnaire. This item was asked on a complete-count basis.

The concept of race as used by the Census bureau reflects self-identification by respondents; it does not denote any clear-cut scientific definition of biological stock. Since the 1980 census obtained information on race through self-identification, the data represent self-classification by people according to the race with which they identify themselves. For persons with parents of different races who could not provide a single response to the race question, the race of the person's mother was used; however, if a single response could not be provided for the person's mother, the first race reported by the person was used.

Counts of the population by race in complete-count tabulations are provisional. Final counts for race will be determined after the sample data have been processed. The sample counts will first appear on tape on STF 3 and in print in Characteristics of the Population, General Social and Economic Characteristics (PC80-1-C) reports.

Limited edit and review operations were performed during the complete-count operations; write-in responses were reviewed in an attempt to classify entries to specific categories, where appropriate. For instance, if the "Other" circle was marked with a write-in entry "Caucasian," then the response was recoded as White. (Additional examples are noted below.) However, all such cases were not identified in the complete-count processing. During the processing of sample questionnaires, a more thorough review and additional editing was done to resolve inconsistent or incomplete responses. Also, during the processing of sample questionnaires, write-in entries for the "Other" category were assigned specific codes, which is included on the person's basic record in the census sample detailed tape files.

Asian and Pacific Islander write-in entries, such as Indo-Chinese, Cambodian, or Polynesian, included in the "Other" category during 100-percent processing, are collectively tabulated and shown as "Other Asian and Pacific Islander" in the census sample tabulations; this group, "Other Asian and Pacific Islanders," will be included in the broader Asian and Pacific Islander category in all sample tabulations by race. This shift of "Other Asian and Pacific Islander" entries out of the "Other races" category in sample tabulations and the recoding of write-in entries in the "Other" category to specific categories where appropriate Will affect the comparability between complete-count and sample data for some groups.

Persons who indicated their race as White, as well as persons who did not classify themselves in one of the specific race categories listed on the questionnaire but entered a response such as Canadian, German, Italian, Lebanese, or Polish. (Persons who did not classify themselves in one of the specified race categories but wrote in entries such as Cuban, Puerto Rican, Mexican, or Dominican were included in the "Other races" category; in the 1970 census most of these persons were included in the "White" category.)

Persons who indicated their race as Black or Negro, as well as persons who did not classify themselves in one of the specific race categories, but reported entries such as Black Puerto Rican, Haitian, Jamaican, Nigerian, or West Indian.

Persons who indicated their race as Chinese, as well as persons who did not classify themselves in one of the specific race categories, but reported entries such as Cantonese, Formosan, Taiwanese, or Tibetan.

Persons who indicated their race as Asian Indian, as well as persons who did not classify themselves in one of the specific race categories, but reported entries such as Bengali, Bharati, Dravidian, East Indian, Goanese, Hindu Indic, Kashmiri, or South Asian.

Persons who indicated their race as Hawaiian. In the State of Hawaii, al1 persons who reported "Part-Hawaiian" were included in this category. Guamanian. Persons who indicated their race as Guamanian, as well as persons who did not classify themselves in one of the race categories, but reported an entry such as Chamorro or Guam.

In sample tabulations only, persons who reported Cambodian, Hmong, Indo-Chinese, Laotian, Pakistani, Polynesian, Fiji Islander, Tahitian, Thai, or similar responses. Census basic records include codes for over 50 separate race group s within this category. In complete-count tabulations, this group is part of the "Other races" category below.

Includes all other races (except "Other Asian and Pacific Islander" groups) which were not included in the specific categories listed on the questionnaire. For example, persons reporting in the "Other" race category and providing write-in entries such as Eurasian, Cosmopolitan, Inter-racial, or a Spanish origin group (e.g., Mexican, Cuban, or Puerto Rican) were included in Race, n.e.c. Other Asian and Pacific Islanders are included in the "Other" category in 100-percent tabulations. Persons who did not report a specific race but wrote in entries such as "Mexican," "Cuban," "South American, "Chicano," or "La Raza" remained in the "Other races" category for complete-count tabulations, and in the "Race, n.e.c." category for sample tabulations. (STF 3, STF 4, and public-use microdata samples separately identify, as a subcategory within "Race. n.e.c.," persons who wrote in an entry implying Spanish origin. Such entries are not necessarily consistent with responses in the Spanish origin question.)

In a few tables in which data for American Indian, Eskimo, Aleut, and Asian and Pacific Islander are not presented separately, the "Other" category encompasses all race categories not shown separately.

In some tabulations, the "Other" or "Race, n.e.c." category is omitted to save space; data for this category are derivable by subtracting the sum of the specified race categories from the total.

In certain printed tables, where space is limited, data for persons of Spanish origin are presented alongside data for up to four major race groups. In such situations, users should not be misled by the proximity of these two types of data. Spanish origin is not a race category, and persons of Spanish origin may be of any race. Tabulations in a number of sources present data separately for race categories (e.g., White, Black, and "Other") for persons not of Spanish origin. In addition, the number of Spanish-origin persons is given by race.

In previous censuses, undercoverage of the population has been associated with race. The 1970 census missed Blacks at a much higher rate than Whites. The Bureau has not prepared undercoverage rates for races other than White or Black, because vital records and other sources of relevant statistics do not consistently distinguish among other races.

Questions on "race" or "color" have been asked in each census since 1790. In 1970, when persons with parents of different races were in doubt 8s to their classification, the race of the father was used. In 1980, the race of the mother was used for persons who could not provide a single response. The 1970 category "Negro or Black" has been retitled "Black or Negro. Individual categories for Vietnamese, Asian Indian, Guamanian, and Samoan have been added. In 1970, the categories Eskimo and Aleut appeared only on questionnaires used in Alaska; they were replaced by Hawaiian and Korean in all other States. In 1980, all four categories appeared on the questionnaire. As a result of the additions, the 1980 questionnaire had 14 specific race categories instead of 8 as in 1970.

In 1970, persons who did not report a specific race but wrote in Hispanic categories such as "Mexican," "Puerto Rican," or "Cuban" in the race question were assigned to White; for 1980 these persons remain in the "Other races" category.

See also: "Ancestry;" "Race of Householder;" "Spanish Origin".

Excerpt from:

Social Explorer; U.S. Census Bureau; Census of Population and Housing, 1980: Summary Tape File 3 [machine-readable data file] / conducted By the U.S. Bureau of the Census. Washington: Bureau of the Census [producer and distributor], 1982.

Families and unrelated individuals are classified as above or below the poverty level by comparing their total 1979 income to an income cutoff or "poverty threshold." The income cutoffs vary by family size, number of children, and age of the family householder or unrelated individual. Poverty status is determined for all families (and, by implication, all family members). Poverty status is also determined for persons not in families, except for inmates of institutions, members of the Armed Forces living in barracks, college students living in dormitories, and unrelated individuals under 15 years old. Poverty status is derived on a sample basis.

The 1980 census definition of poverty reflects revisions recommended by a Federal interagency committee in 1979 to a definition adopted in 1969. The index is based on the Department of Agriculture's 1961 Economy Food Plan and reflects the different consumption requirements of families based on their size and composition. It was determined from the Department of Agriculture's 1955 survey of food consumption that families .of three or more persons spend approximately one-third of their income on food; the poverty level for these families was, therefore, set at three times the cost of the economy food plan. For smaller families and persons living alone, the cost of the economy food plan was multiplied by factors that were slightly higher in order to compensate for the relatively larger fixed expenses of these smaller households. The poverty thresholds are updated every year to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Cutoffs for 1979 income used in poverty statistics in the 1980 census are presented below. As an example, the poverty threshold for a family of four with two related children under 18 can be found in the chart below to be $7,356 in 1979.

Poverty thresholds are computed on a national basis only. No attempt has been made to adjust these thresholds for regional, State, or other local variations in the cost of living.

The poverty status of a person who is a family member is determined by the family income and its relationship to the appropriate poverty threshold for that family. The poverty status of an unrelated individual is determined by his or her own income in relation to the appropriate poverty threshold. Thus, two unrelated individuals living together may not have the same poverty status.

Households below the poverty level are defined as households in which the total income of the family or the householder of a nonfamily household is below the poverty level. The incomes of persons in the household other than members of the family or other than the householder in a nonfamily household are not taken into account when determining poverty status of a household.

Because the poverty levels currently in use by the Federal Government do not meet all the needs of the analysts of the data, variations of the poverty definition are available in terms of various multiples of the official poverty levels. The one most frequently tabulated is 125 percent of the poverty level, where a family or person may have up to 25 percent more income than normally allowed under the poverty threshold appropriate for the family size, etc.

Families or persons whose total family income or unrelated individual income in 1979 was less than the poverty threshold specified for the applicable family size, age of householder, and number of related children under 13 present. In certain tabulations, this group is further subdivided into those with income "below 75 percent of poverty level" and "between 75 and 99 percent of poverty level."

Families or persons whose total family income or unrelated individual income in 1979'was equal to or greater than the poverty threshold specified for the applicable family size, etc. In certain tabulations, this group is further subdivided into those with income "between 100 and 124 percent of poverty level," "between 125 and 149 percent of poverty level," "between 150 and 174 percent of poverty level, "between 175 and 199 percent of poverty level," and "200 percent of poverty level and above."

The team "poverty" connotes a complex set of economic, social, and psychological conditions. The standard statistical definition provides only estimates of economic poverty based on the receipt of money income before taxes. Excluded from the income concept is a measure of the benefits derived from the receipt of in-kind government transfers, such as food stamps, medicaid, and public housing; private transfers such as health insurance premiums paid by employers; the value of the services obtained from the ownership of assets, such as owner-occupied housing units; and the receipt of money from the sale of property, withdrawal of bank deposits, gifts and money borrowed. A comprehensive review of the current poverty definition and its limitations can be found in The Mea sure of Poverty, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, April 1976. See also the discussion of limitations under Income In 1979.

Poverty statistics were first included in a decennial census in 1970. Prior to 1980 the poverty thresholds did not distinguish among families with 7, 8, and 9 or more persons; on the other hand, the cutoffs were further differentiated by the sex of the family head or unrelated individual and by farm/nonfarm residence. In the 1970 census, the thresholds for farm residents were set at 85 percent of the thresholds for nonfarm residents. 1979 income thresholds used in the 1980 census represent a weighted average of the nonfarm thresholds used in the past male headed and female headed families. The elimination of the 85-percent threshold for farm families increased the farm population classified as poor by about 174,000 persons or about one-fifth nationwide. The net effect of all three changes on the total number of poor persons is to increase it approximately 380,000 or 1.5 percent.

Since the poverty income cutoffs have been adjusted each year for changes in the CPI, and since the overall impact of the definitional changes is minimal, 1980 census poverty figures for the total and nonfarm population should be reasonably comparable to the 1970 poverty figures. However, because of the definitional changes cited, comparisons involving the farm population should be made with caution.